


Some Things Never Sleep

by CakeWalk



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Assassin - Freeform, Child Abuse, Child Soldiers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Murder, Nightmares, Past Sexual Assault, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Romance, Slow Burn, Teen Romance, Two Fathers, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-08-04 07:25:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16342379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CakeWalk/pseuds/CakeWalk
Summary: "You never learn when to quit, Spider-Twerp." She told him. "Spider-Twerp?" Spider-Man questioned in disbelief as he glared. Emma smirked. "Well, you annoyingly seem to get in my way all the time. That and you don't look or sound like a man to me." She explained. "I am a man." He told her angrily. "Somehow I doubt that." The first time Emma and Peter met didn't exactly go well.Emma Rogers, AKA The Viper Assassin, has been under Hydra's thumb for nine long years until she ends up face to face with the man who she knows to be her only relation left. She's thrown into a world of freedom which she's never known but with the help of her grandfather, Captain America, she slowly becomes accustomed to her new life until Tony Stark brings up the Sokovia Accords. Emma is caught in the middle of a war as she becomes intent on protecting the man she calls her father and siding with her grandfather. Not to mention she crosses paths with a certain webslinging nuisance that knows just how to push her buttons like no other...what Emma would give for the days she spent knife fighting with her father in Siberia.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing except for Emma Rogers. Everything else belongs to Marvel.
> 
> I decided to post this story on here because of my Tom Holland fic 'Matter of Time' which is the alternate universe fic to this one. This story's already been posted on numerous sites like FF, Quotev, and Wattpad so I decided to post it on here although it might take me a while to get up caught since it's currently over 900,000 words long. 
> 
> Some Things Never Sleep will cover the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Winter Soldier storyline won't start until Chapter Seven. Peter won't show up for a long time either but I promise the wait will be worth it.

Rush Springs, Oklahoma  
2005

"Emma, sweetheart, why don't you go play in the living room? Daddy's cooking in the kitchen." Margot Rogers called out to her daughter. A four year old little girl was playing with her plastic toy horses on the kitchen floor, the linoleum cold against her small feet. She was a cute little thing with her pale blonde pigtails and big ocean blue eyes. Emma Rogers looked every bit like her father with her hair, eyes, and Margot was even beginning to see her daughter form the same smile. Emma looked picturesque in her pink sundress with flower patterns decorating every inch of it. It was still morning but the dress was already stained with grass and dirt strains which the rambunctious four year old had obtained from outside.

"Okay, mommy." Emma said obediently. It made more sense to play in the living room since there was much more space to play anyways. Steven Rogers Jr. watched from behind the kitchen counter as his daughter got up from the floor, her arms full of toy horses, and proceeded to the living room. It was moments like these that caused him to think about his own father, both an American hero and icon, who died before he was born and even before his mother discovered she was pregnant with him. Steven felt saddened suddenly because he realized that his father had missed out on a lot and above all…fatherhood which was the best thing that had ever happened to Steven.

Emma entered the living room and immediately sat herself on the floor, her feet warmed up by the soft carpet. Her mother sat on the couch, her green eyes glued to a magazine, and Emma briefly found herself wanting to be as pretty as her mother someday. Emma's mother had emerald green eyes that contrasted against her vibrant red hair and pale alabaster skin. It was no wonder that Steven had fallen so hard for her even with the large age difference. Steven was fifty two when he met Margot who had only been thirty five at the time. The older man had been working as a Shield agent when Margot, another Shield agent, was assigned to him as a partner during a mission.

The rest was history.

The family was quite content in their two story house that was situated in the middle of nowhere. Their only neighbors lived a couple miles away so the Rogers were embraced with peace and quiet which was all they could really ask for. Both Steven and Margot had retired from Shield when Margot became pregnant with Emma. Nick Fury and Margot's father had been sad to see them go but it was about time they settled down. Margot was about to flip the page in her magazine when she heard a soft thud coming from upstairs. A normal, ordinary person would've passed it off as a bird landing on the roof but not Margot. She slowly glanced up at the ceiling as she held her breath, all time seemed to freeze as she strained to hear anything from the second floor. Margot turned her attention to the entrance of the kitchen as her husband popped his head around the corner. She knew she wasn't being paranoid.

Steven and Margot shared a knowing look as Margot carefully stood up from the couch without making a sound. They made discreet hand signals from over their daughter's shoulder and Margot walked towards him until she was right in front of him. Emma was oblivious to it all as she continued to play with her horses. Steven gave his wife another look and Margot nodded in silent reply before Steven placed a chaste kiss to her forehead. He softly padded over to a gaudy looking painting of wild horses on the wall and lifted the painting up, reaching his hand behind it and pulling a gun out. Margot stood in front of Emma, blocking their daughter's line of sight, and Steven silently began to creep up the stairs.

Emma went on her merry way, playing with her toys, while Margot kept staring at the ceiling. Steven would be alright, she told herself. He had enhanced hearing and would be able to get a head start on anyone up there. Emma tore her eyes away from her toys, sending her mother a vibrant smile, and Margot forced a smile in reply even though she was beyond worried. There was more loud thumping from upstairs which seemed to draw their daughter's attention this time. The thumping was followed by two loud gunshots which caused the little girl to yelp in response. Margot took a defensive stance in front of Emma as she watched the stairs for any sign of movement.

"Mommy, what was that noise?!" The four year old cried but Margot just hushed her. There was nothing but silence for the next couple of minutes until Margot heard quiet footsteps making their way to the top of the staircase. The top of the staircase was too far away for Margot to see in her position so she was left with no other option but to wait. She eyed the decorative side table by the front door with longing. Her gun was duck taped underneath it but she would never be able to reach it in time to protect Emma. If it came down to it Margot would just have to rely on hand to hand combat. It was a moment later when she was able to see feet coming down the stairs and rest of the figure was revealed to be her husband. Margot sighed in relief when she saw him.

"Thank god." She said. Steven gave her a small smile, his gun tucked away in the back of jeans, as he made his way down the stairs.

"Don't worry it's all taken care of. I just wouldn't let Emma go up there for a while…not until we clean up." Steven said and Margot nodded in response. She was about to open her mouth to say something when three loud gun shots rang out, causing Emma to scream and Margot to look up in horror. Steven, with all his semi enhanced abilities, didn't even have time to duck out of the way when the shots hit him…in the head. A second later and his brains were splattered against the wall of the stairwell, gushing red brain matter decorating the white wall.

"Emma! Run! Get out of here!" Margot screamed at her daughter but the little girl did nothing to move. "GO!"

Finally Emma did as her mother told her and raced to the kitchen, making a beeline for the sliding glass door but she stopped. How could she leave her mother? She couldn't just leave without her mother. Her mother usually told her to never leave the house without her. Why should that suddenly change? The four year old did something very stupid…she hid under the kitchen table and watched from under the tablecloth as her father's killer entered the living room. 

A large man with dark eyes and dark hair entered the room with a huge grin on his face but it was nothing like the smile her father would always give her. No, there was something very scary about that smile on his face. He looked like the wolf in the book 'Red Riding Hood' her mother would always read to her. Margot glared at the man, willing herself not to cry at the sight of her dead husband but that was an impossible task in itself.

"Margot," He greeted in a sickly sweet tone. "It's always a pleasure to see you."

"Rumlow, what the hell did you just do?!" Margot all but screamed at him, trying to remain calm in a terrifying situation.

"What do you mean? Oh…Rogers? That old prick?" Rumlow laughed a humorless laugh as he looked at Margot. "I don't know what you ever saw in that asshole but I took care of him."

"What you just did was cold blooded murder. It's even treasonous considering who you just murdered. Shield will have your head on a stick and that's after I get done with you…if there's anything left, that is." Margot told him, with pure venom in her tone. She was one second away from tearing Rumlow apart piece by piece. Brock Rumlow, however, didn't look the least bit worried.

"Oh…my poor Margot. So brainwashed by your husband that you failed to see what was right in front of you after all this time." He said in a patronizing tone. "Can't you see we're meant to be together? All this time's gone by and I still can't stop thinking about you. Remember when we used to date? We were the perfect couple and I screwed it up. I see the error of my ways now. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones."

"You're delusional." Margot spat.

"We can start right where we left off but now we have a daughter to add to the equation. I'll even raise little Emma as my own." When Rumlow mentioned Emma, Margot's glare darkened.

"You'll stay away from Emma. You've really lost it this time, Rumlow, and when my father finds out what you just did –"

"Who do you think sent out the order?" Rumlow deadpanned and Margot's eyes widened in surprise before she narrowed her green eyes at the Shield agent.

"Are you suggesting that my father is treasonous?" Rumlow smirked.

"Not at all, Margot. Your father's doing exactly what's needed to protect this country…to protect the world. He just might have a different way of going about that." Margot wasn't sure if she should believe him or not but at the moment she didn't care. She was alone in this either way and she needed to protect her daughter.

"Just come with me, Margot, and we can be a family. Me, you, and Emma together." Margot glared at him hatefully.

"Never." She hissed before bringing her knee up and kicking Rumlow in between the legs so hard that he nearly fell over from the pain. It didn't take long for him to recover as Margot lifted her leg up to deliver a roundhouse kick and he quickly ducked out of the way. 

Rumlow delivered a quick punch to her face which she easily blocked until he kicked her in the abdomen when she was distracted. Margot recovered from the hit and delivered a punch to his side, causing him to wince in pain, which allowed her to deliver another kick to his side. Rumlow harshly grasped her leg when she was about to deliver another kick and flipped her onto the floor.

She gasped in pain as her head hit the floor but was quick to dodge his punches. Margot grasped one of his wrists as he was about to punch her and forced his hand back with all the force she could muster until she started hear a spine tingling, cracking sound. Rumlow grunted in pain and used his other hand to punch Margot in the face. The force of the blow impacted her nose, causing it to instantly break, a stream of blood gushing out. She retracted her grip from his wrist, allowing him regain control of the fight. He wrapped his massive hands around her pale, delicate looking throat and began to squeeze. 

Margot started wheezing with the increased force Rumlow used against her and she started turning purple from the lack of oxygen. She wrapped her hands around his wrists and tried to lessen his grip on her throat but Rumlow was much too strong for her. Margot then got a new idea. She quickly wrapped her legs around Rumlow's waist and started squeezing her thighs together with all her might. One of the many lessons she learned in training was that men were bigger and stronger, yes, but women could be just as strong if they directed their strength in the right direction. Thigh strength could be a woman's most powerful weapon as well as speed. 

Rumlow grunted in pain from Margot's attack and began to lose grip around her throat, causing her to rip his hands from her before she kneed him in the stomach. 

Rumlow was quick to get back on his feet as he lifted himself up from the ground. He gripped Margot by her long red hair before throwing her onto the coffee table, making the glass shatter. Margot gasped in surprise as some of the glass cut into her back but she rolled over to the side before Rumlow could deliver another kick. She grabbed a shard of glass, so tight in her hand that the palm of her hand began to bleed, and slashed Rumlow's face as he went towards her again. He hissed in pain, holding his face as he tried to regain footing. 

Margot used the distraction to her advantage and delivered a harsh blow to his legs, causing him to be knocked off his feet. She rolled on top of him and immediately began using her thighs to choke him out. His arms were trapped by Margot's legs as he struggled to get her off of him.

Margot placed her thumbs against Rumlow's eyes and began to squeeze. Rumlow screamed in pain as she applied pressure to his eyes. However, what Margot unfortunately didn't account for was the fact that Rumlow was able to slide one of his arms out from under her. She was too busy trying to gouge Rumlow's eyes out that she didn't even noticed when he grabbed one of the shards of glass. Once Rumlow had a firm grip on the shard of glass he quickly made a sharp motion with the shard of glass, taking Margot by surprise. 

Rumlow had brought it up to her throat and slashed his way across it. Margot's eyes widened in surprise as she felt the stinging pain across her throat. Her grip loosened against his eyes and her thighs lost their strength around him. The blood gushed out from her throat, splattering Rumlow in the face, before she fell back off of him. She struggled to get back up but actually managed to although she was very weak.

"You know, Margot, this didn't have to end this way." He said as Margot staggered back and Rumlow stalked towards her like a wolf would stalk its prey. Margot lost her balance once more and fell onto her back. The pain was torturous and she could feel herself slowly drifting away but the only thing she could think of was her daughter. She knew this was the end for her even if she tried to fight against it as hard as she could. 

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of your daughter…your father will make sure of that." Rumlow told her, a sadistic smile on his face. He then knelt down beside her and watched her green eyes, gleaming with horror and fear, and he knew she only had mere seconds left as she bled out. He leant down close to her, his lips an inch away from her ear.

"Hail Hydra." Rumlow whispered and he could feel Margot's heart beat quicken at a rapid pace just for a moment before it slowed back down and then there was nothing. Rumlow pulled back to look at the dead body of Margot Rogers. She was still just as beautiful in death as she was alive. He gently tucked a piece of her red hair behind her ear before placing a gentle kiss against her forehead.

"Oh, Margot…I'll miss you. I really will." Without sparing her another thought, Rumlow got up from the floor and set out to finish the rest of his mission. He really hadn't wanted to kill Margot but she left him no choice and now he had to find her daughter to finish this mess once and for all. He quietly stalked towards the kitchen, making sure that his footsteps were silent. Rumlow knew that she wasn't upstairs seeing as he had already looked and she couldn't be in the living room either. He would've heard her if she had been in the living room.

Rumlow grinned as he then heard a soft whimpering coming from under the kitchen table. He could even see tiny bare feet from under the table. So there was Margot's precious daughter...her little Emma. Rumlow easily grabbed the kitchen table and threw it against the wall, causing the four year old to scream in fright. He looked at her, expecting to see some similarities between her and Margot but all he could see was the same cute, pixie looking nose and natural rosy pink lips. Rumlow looked at her in disgust because everything else was completely Rogers. From her golden blonde locks to her bright blue gaze and she would probably even have the same stupid arrogant smile that Rogers had once she got older. No, her mother was barely there in her facial features and for some reason that pissed off Rumlow.

"Come on, little girl, don't be afraid." The little girl was sobbing pathetically and Rumlow couldn't believe Pierce was wasting his time trying to get this girl. How would she ever become what they needed her to be if she was too busy sobbing and screaming?

"Y-you did something to d-daddy and m-mommy." She cried and Rumlow grinned at her but that only seemed to scare her more.

"That's right and if you don't get up from that floor right now I'll do worse to you." This seemed to terrify the little girl more because a pool of urine appeared on the linoleum floor. Rumlow gave her another disgusted look.

"Don't worry, once we're done with you you'll never piss yourself again…not unless you want some broken fingers and I would hate for you to break anything. It would be a shame." Rumlow told her in a sickly sweet tone before grabbing her roughly. She let out a surprised yelp as he threw her over his shoulder and turned in the opposite direction. 

Tears streamed down Emma's face and she cried even more hysterically as she spotted the dead bodies of her parents. She knew something was wrong even though she was too young to understand the concept of death. Her father unrecognizable on the staircase with his blood splattered all over the wall and his brains blown out. Her mother on the floor, her throat slit, a pool of blood surrounding her body as she continued to bleed out. The sight was traumatic but Rumlow had little care as to how something like this would impact a four year old.

"We'll take good care of you, little girl, don't you worry a hair on that pretty little head of yours." However, this did nothing to comfort Emma as the small girl was torn away from her home and away from the parents who had adored her. The day her parents died was the day her childhood had been stolen from her. It would almost be a decade before Emma was able to retrieve it again.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma's drastically changed in her one year since her parents death and her arrival at Hydra. She's been learning languages, geography, economics, and everything that's far beyond what's normal for a five year old. The only thing left is for her to be trained in combat and who better than by her predecessor. 
> 
> This will mark the rise of the Viper Assassin.

Part I: Long & Lost

Is it too late to come on home  
Are all those bridges now old stone  
Is it too late to come on home  
Can the city forgive, I hear its sad song  
I need the clouds to cover me  
Pull in the dark, surround me  
Without your love I'll be  
So long and lost, are you missing me  
\- Florence & The Machine

 

* * *

 

**Hydra Base**   
**Location: Siberia**   
**2006**

"Что такое столица Йемена?" (What is the Capital of Yemen?) A man with a thick Russian accent asked.

"Sana'a." A small voice answered with the correct pronunciation.

The Project, formerly known as Emma Margaret Rogers, was sitting in a single wooden chair in the middle of a dark room.

It was empty except for Emma and the Russian Colonel.

Colonel Vasily Karpov was a decorated military man who was admired by many in the Russian Armed Forces but little did they know that he was actually head of the Hydra operation inside Russia. The man was weathered from years of working on the Winter Soldier program but he was finally having more success. The last decade had proved to be difficult with the other subjects involved with the program but he was finally making some progress through the new program Hydra had created.

The Viper Assassin program.

And the blonde just so happened to be the first subject of said program. After the failed experiment of the Winter Soldier project, where many of the subjects had to be put on ice, Hydra was putting a lot of their hopes on the Viper Assassin project. The girl was likely to make it a success too because of her heritage. The others had been weak but maybe the girl would be stronger.

It was in her blood, after all.

The room was cold which left Emma a shivering mess in her chair but the older man paid no attention. There were no windows inside the room and the only light came from a singular lamp in a far corner of the room. The floors and walls were made from concrete and looked as if they hadn't been washed in years. Gathering from the large stains of blood left over, they probably hadn't been clean in even longer since the blood had dried into a crusty looking brown color.

A year ago Emma Rogers had been a cute four year old little girl with a rosy tint to her cheeks and her blue eyes gleaming with happiness. Now she was just a mere shell of who she used to be with her sad eyes, pale ghostly looking skin, and her hair looking ratty and filthy. The entire appearance of the now five year old looked dirty and abused. Smudges of dirt smeared her pale looking skin and bruises helped decorate that very same skin. It was no condition for a five year old but Emma had learned a while ago that there was no use crying about it.

Hydra had made that very clear and even a small child like herself was able to understand that.

"Каково нынешнее население Йемена?" (What is the current population of Yemen?) Karpov questioned, analyzing the small girl. She had lost what passion and fire she had a few months ago, letting herself succumb to her fate. Emma stared blankly at the Russian man.

"Nineteen thousand six hundred and eighty five thousand…approximately." She answered in English and Karpov glared her at her in anger.

He slapped her across the face harshly, causing Emma to whip her head back from the force and she struggled not to whimper at the pain. She knew if she cried the pain would only increase.

This was a lesson Hydra had been teaching her since she arrived at the base more than a year ago.

"In Russian, you stupid girl!" He hissed angrily in English and Emma looked him in the eyes, pleading with herself to not allow any tears to brim her eyes.

Emma, with a dejected look on her face, then spoke the answer in Russian without missing a beat. Emma didn't bother apologizing because she also learned a long time ago that apologizing was for the weak. Karpov analyzed Emma's body language and facial expression with close attention, looking for any emotional response but she held his gaze steadily. Satisfied with her overall appearance, he pulled back and continued in his quizzing.

"Что является основной религией в Йемене?" (What is the primary religion in Yemen?")

 

* * *

 

"Это очень важный день для тебя, дитя." (This a very important day for you, child) Karpov announced.

Emma was brought to a different room in the base than the one she had come to know as "The Cold Room". The only rooms she had previously known were her room, "The Cold Room", and the lab. She was never allowed anywhere else but those three rooms and she often found herself curious about who else was there besides her and Colonel Karpov. The small girl had seen some men in white coats which she had summed up as them being scientists.

She had watched enough Dexter's Laboratory in her lifetime to know what a scientist looked like.

This room was much nicer than "The Cold Room" Emma observed as she stood in the center of it. The floors were cleaner than they had been in the "The Cold Room" but she could tell they were just as hard. Some punching bags were placed in one corner of the room while other exercise equipment was seen around the room. For the most part, however, the room was spacious which drew the question as to what it was used for.

As Emma looked around the room her attention was drawn to someone who was standing in a dark corner of the room.

It was a man who stood there and he looked like the most imposing looking person she had ever laid her eyes on.

He was tall with longish, brown hair that went down to just below his chin and his pale blue eyes stared at her with such coldness that it chilled her right to the bone. The man dressed head to toe in what looked to be some sort of black combat gear. However, what was most jaw dropping about the man was the fact that he had a silver looking arm made out of some sort of metal. It glinted under the dim lighting and her eyes caught sight of the bright red star that stood out against the silver.

"Я хочу, чтобы вы встретились с зимним солдатом. Он будет вашим личным тренером." (I would like you to meet the Winter Soldier. He will be your own personal trainer.) Karpov told her with a firm tone. He recognized the small amount of fear in her eyes as she struggled to contain herself. Normally he would beat the fear right out of her but for this to work she would need to fear the Winter Soldier just a little until she proved herself.

This would be the best way to control her.

"Он будет тренировать вас, как бороться и как убивать. У вас будет хороший учитель, так как он лучший, что Hydra имеет." (He will be training you how to fight and how to kill. You will have a good teacher since he's the best that Hydra has.) Karpov continued and Emma struggled to not let them see her fear.

Fight?

Kill?

What did that even entail?

Emma was only five years old and barely understood the concept of death and that was only because she watched her parents get murdered right in front of her. Her parents were about to enroll her in school early because she was far beyond most other four year olds but she was even too young for most of the stuff that Hydra wanted out of her.

Karpov then focused his attention on one of the observation windows towards the front of the room.

"ОтПравь одного из них." (Send one of them in.) Karpov ordered and it wasn't even a moment later when the door opened and a man was tossed into the room, landing on the floor with a soft thud.

This man didn't look as composed and intimidating as the man in the corner but he instead looked frightened, confused, and angry. He was dressed like a soldier with lots of green and neutral colors…Camo. The man's brown eyes looked around the room rapidly as he tried to figure out where he was and why he was there. He quickly got up from the floor and backed up against the wall, his eyes wild as he looked around the room.

"What in the bloody hell is this?! Do you realize who you've kidnapped?!" The man demanded with a thick English accent.

Emma recognized his accent as English since her grandmother had a very similar one. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she thought about her grandmother. She missed her kind and sweet grandmother who used to tell her bedtime stories about how she met Emma's grandfather. Emma would give anything to be back in the arms of her grandmother right now instead of here in this room with Karpov and the scary looking man in the corner.

"I'm a British Commando and when you-" He tried to say but Karpov interrupted him.

"You're about to be a part of a little demonstration for the girl." Karpov told him in English with a sinister grin on his face. The man's eyes flashed towards her and they softened as he analyzed the small, abused looking girl.

"What is that child doing here? What are you doing with her?" He asked, anger and pity clear in his voice.

"That's no concern of yours." Karpov said coldly, the grin falling off his face.

"The hell it is! I took an oath to serve and protect! I'm a British commando and when they find out what you're doing here-"

"Trust me, they know." Karpov said, cutting the man off. The man's eyes widened in shock as he struggled to comprehend that his own government knew what was going on. How could his own country condone the torture of children? No, that man was lying. He shouldn't even believe that Russian. "Don't worry, not everyone in your government is aware of our presence. Think of us as a government inside of a government. Only a select few know of our existence."

"You're insane!" The man yelled at him but Karpov remained unfazed by the hysterical British Commando.

"Maybe but that's not what you're here for. You're not here to classify my psychological condition. You're here to fight." Karpov told him coolly.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Karpov only rolled his eyes at the British commando before turning his attention to the Winter Soldier who watched the situation unfold with detached curiosity. He spoke one word to the Winter Soldier which set off a chain of events and Emma could only watch in horror as her first day in training began.

"Атаки." (Attack.) Karpov said, sending the Winter Soldier into action as he approached the confused British Commando. The man watched with frightened eyes as the tall, imposing figure of the Winter Soldier approached him, determination in his eyes.

The Winter Soldier grabbed the British Commando by the throat and lifted him up from the ground by one hand. The commando struggled for breath as he tried to pry the Winter Soldier's hand from his throat. He did the only thing he could think of and kicked the Winter Soldier in the stomach with all the force he could muster.

The action did little to harm the Winter Soldier but the assassin threw the commando to the ground anyways. As the commando landed on the ground, he gasped for air as he tried to catch his breath. He then quickly got up from the floor before the Winter Soldier could make a grab for him again.

The commando got into a defensive pose this time and waited for the Winter Soldier to approach him. The commando's defensive position didn't seem to cause the Winter Soldier any worry as he stalked towards the shorter man.

When the Winter Soldier finally reached the man, the commando delivered a swift kick to his side which the Winter Soldier gracefully dodged. When the commando tried to deliver a punch, the Winter Soldier easily grabbed his wrist in his hand. With a slight jerk the Winter Soldier managed to completely fracture the man's wrist, causing the commando to scream out in pain.

With the commando distracted by the pain, the Winter Soldier grabbed the man by his neck and threw him across the room with little to no effort at all. Emma winced as the man hit the wall with a loud thud. It didn't look like he was getting up anytime soon as the commando continued to scream in pain.

When the man saw the Winter Soldier approaching again, his eyes widened and he began to beg for mercy.

"Please! No, stop! I promise I won't tell anyone about what you're doing! Just don't!" The man pleaded but it was no use.

Once the Winter Soldier was given an order there was no point in trying to stop him.

The Winter Soldier placed his booted foot against the man's throat and the commando struggled from underneath it.

Emma watched in terror as the Winter Soldier began to apply pressure to the man's throat, causing the man to let out an animalistic cry as he screamed. Emma wanted to place her hands over her eyes and ears so she wouldn't have to witness the ugly scene before her but she knew the Colonel would most likely beat her if she did such a thing.

The man continued to scream until a sickening snap echoed through the room.

The Winter Soldier stepped of the man and turned around to face Karpov. Emma knew that the man was dead even without looking at his body.

This wasn't the first time she experienced death.

The first time was when she was four and her parents had been murdered by the man with the wolf like smile.

"Очень хорошо, зимний солдат." (Very good, Winter Soldier.) Karpov said with a tone of approval before looking down at Emma. There were silent tears streaming down her face as she stared at the Winter Soldier in horror.

Karpov frowned and backhanded Emma across her face, giving her a look of distaste.

"Глупая слабая девчонка! Когда вы будете когда-нибудь учиться?!" (Stupid, weak girl! When will you ever learn?!)

Emma struggled not to show any sign of pain as she tried ignore the pain of the abuse. Don't let them see weakness, she told herself. If she showed anymore weakness they would beat her senseless until she was empty again. If she had any dignity at five years old, it was all gone because all that mattered to her now was survival. Emma wasn't sure if it was an instinct she had learned from her time spent in "The Cold Room" or if it had been there all along.

"ПоТяните себя вместе, девочка! Ты видела, что там только что произошло? Это твое будущее. Это не будет долго, прежде чем вы также будете ожидать, чтобы атаковать и убивать так же грациозно и безжалостно, как зимний солдат. Это его работа, чтобы научить вас, как." (Pull yourself together, girl! Did you see what just happened there? That was your future. It won't be long before you'll also be expected to attack and kill just as gracefully and mercilessly as the Winter Soldier. It's his job to teach you how.) Karpov ranted at her and Emma could only watch him in silent observation as he explained her destiny to her.

As she glanced over his shoulder at the Winter Soldier, she knew what threat was hidden amongst Karpov's rant. If she didn't comply with his demands then she would be brutally killed. If she didn't learn how to kill she would end up just like the man lying dead on the floor, ruthlessly murdered by the bare hands of the Winter Soldier. In that moment Emma could only think of survival and if that meant going along with whatever they demanded of her then so be it.

Emma might've only been five but her time at Hydra taught her things like logic and common sense.

She wasn't stupid.

"Вы готовы к соблюдению?" (Are you ready to comply?) Karpov asked, breaking Emma out of her thoughts. She stared at Karpov with an empty look in her blue eyes before she slowly nodded, causing the older man to grin.

"Да, сэр." (Yes, sir.) Emma replied quietly, obedience in her tone.

"Умница. Теперь давайте вернемся к вашей комнате, чтобы вы могли немного отдохнуть и подготовиться к вашему первому уроку завтра." (Good girl. Now let's return you to your room so you can get some rest and prepare for your first lesson tomorrow.) Karpov told her before patting her gently on the back, causing Emma to stiffen from his unwelcomed touch. He then began to lead her out of the room but not before Emma turned her head to look over her shoulder.

She locked eyes with the Winter Soldier who watched her with the same chilling coldness as before. He looked familiar to Emma but for some reason she couldn't place him. Emma tucked away the thought because why would the Winter Soldier seem familiar to her? Even as Emma tried to ignore that thought she couldn't help but get the feeling that she had seen him before.

 

* * *

 

For the next six months of Emma's training with the Winter Soldier she was taught defensive and offensive strategies in close quarters combat. He had demonstrated the different moves on the guards at the base who were surely near death at the makeshift hospital inside the base. The guards were dropping like flies, having to be dragged out of the training room by other guards. Emma had feared from day one that she would end up like that British Commando but the Winter Soldier never attempted to kill her. He trained her, at times gently guiding her hands to make the correct formation, but that was as far as he went.

The Winter Soldier rarely talked which was something Emma learned early on, he only guided, but Karpov would narrate whatever lessons the Winter Soldier gave her. In a rare sort of circumstance Karpov narrated the lessons in English which she summed up as him believing that the strategies would stick better in her head that way.

"Remember, child, that a well-trained woman is not nearly as strong as a well-trained man." Karpov narrated in his thick Russian accent as the Winter Soldier demonstrated a new sort of defensive stance. "Women need to find strategies that will help them gain the upper hand against men."

Emma immediately mimicked the Winter Soldier's stance as she also listened to what Karpov had to say. The Winter Soldier then threw his leg out, so fast that she almost missed it, and displayed what would be a quick kick to someone's side. He then threw his fist out with just as much speed as before and Emma pictured him punching the British Commando in the chest. It was a move she had seen before as she began to realize.

The day her parents were murdered.

Emma had seen her mother use the same move against the man with the wolf like smile. However, the thought of her dead mother and father made her sad so she forced the images of that day out of her mind and instead focused on the task at hand.

"Speed…agility…rapid decision making…these are all qualities that the best female fighters have. Qualities that your mother had." Emma whipped her head around to look at the colonel, her blue eyes wide with surprise.

"My mother? What do you know about my mother?" She questioned and Karpov gave her a sharp look, frowning in distaste at her.

"Pay attention, you silly little girl! This is more important than your dead mother." He scolded and Emma quickly returned her attention to the Winter Soldier who was patiently waiting for her. He nodded at her to mimic the move he had shown her from before. Emma quickly got into the correct stance again before delivering a quick kick to the air and then punching the air with the same fast speed.

"Attacking one section of your target's body is a good way to distract them from a more fatal section. You could kick them in the shins and then deliver a forceful hit to their throat which, depending on how much force used, could prove to be fatal." Karpov continued and Emma forced herself not to think of her mother yet again. It had been a year and a half since her parents died but the memories of them were already fading. The small girl was frightened that one day she wouldn't remember them at all.

"Okay, next move, Asset!" Karpov ordered the Winter Soldier and the imposing man got on the floor as he then signaled for Emma to get on the floor as well.

She wasted no time following his demand and he motioned for her to kneel forward and attack. Emma was a little taken back by this since they had yet to spar with each other but she did what he asked of her anyways even if she was a little hesitant at the prospect.

She threw her fist forward, intending to hit him in the face, but was taken by surprise as he caught her fist in his hand and pushed her to the ground.

The Winter Soldier loomed over her and it was then that she realized how dangerous he was.

He held both of her wrists against the ground as he stared into her eyes.

Emma could tell that his grip was looser than it should be and it became evident that he was holding back. She discovered that it would be incredibly easy for him to kill her. Emma laid there motionless against the ground, staring into the pale blue depths of the Winter Soldier's eyes and she was surprised by how much emotion she saw in them.

Fear.

Loneliness.

Confusion.

Anger.

Emma recognized these emotions because she had seen them in herself but never did she expect to find the Winter Soldier showing such emotion. She gazed at him in wonder, watching her own reflection in his eyes.

"Steve?" The Winter Soldier whispered as he stared at her. Emma's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she stared back at him. Did the Winter Soldier really just say something? "S-Steve? Steve? Steve?"

It didn't appear as if she was imagining anything because his voice only grew louder.

"Asset, what's going on?!" Karpov called from behind him but the Winter Soldier ignored him as he continued to hysterically chant, his grip growing tighter around Emma's wrists.

"Steve! Steve! Steve!" He kept chanting and Emma struggled to get out from underneath him. It was almost like the Winter Soldier was malfunctioning somehow and the situation was close to becoming quite deadly.

Emma could feel the tears silently streaming down her face as she struggled to not make a sound. Making a sound could mean death in this case instead of just another beating and Emma was smart enough to be afraid of him in that moment of time.

"Выведите его от сюда! Он должен быть уничтожен снова!" (Get him out of here! He needs to be wiped again!). Karpov yelled out in the distance but Emma was too caught up in the Winter Soldier's crazed state.

While he still scared her from time to time he was the only person in the facility that she liked and held any respect for. He didn't grin at her like the man with the wolf like smile and he didn't beat her like Karpov. Deep down Emma knew that he was no better than a serial killer but he was never aggressive towards her…at least not until now.

There was an emptiness about the Winter Soldier that always made her think that he wasn't like any person she had ever met before. The emptiness in him was robotic and unnatural so it made Emma think that maybe he really was some sort of robot. Her father used to watch the Terminator movies so it was entirely possible that the Winter Soldier looked human but had all the metal and wiring that the Terminator had.

Wasn't that tragic?

A robot was kinder to her than any human at the base.

It wasn't long before ten guards swooped into the room and attempted to grab the Winter Soldier.

The moment one of them laid a hand on him, however, they were thrown across the room like they were a mere rag doll.

The guards had their guns pointed at him and Emma never felt so terrified in her whole life. Not even when the man with the wolf like smile murdered her parents. She realized that she wasn't terrified for her own life but she was scared for the Winter Soldier.

He was insane and much older than her but he was the only friend she had in the whole facility. She would truly be alone if they were to kill him.

It took all the guards, the ones who were uninjured anyways, to restrain the Winter Soldier as he struggled.

They finally managed to pull him off of Emma who would surely have bruises on her wrists come tomorrow morning but she found herself not caring. Emma watched as they dragged him away, his eyes completely glued to her as they forced him out of the room. It was like she was the only thing he could see as they dragged him away and it made her heart beat rapidly in both fear and bewilderment.

His mouth kept forming that name.

Steve.

The small girl was only left with one question as she watched him disappear behind the door.

Who was Steve?


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hydra's head operatives discuss Emma's future with the Viper Assassin program and Emma sees an all too familiar face in the absence of the Winter Soldier.

"Sir, I think she's ready for the program." Colonel Karpov said in his usual thick Russian accent.

He was walking beside a slightly shorter and older American man who looked like the kind grandfatherly type which stood out against all the slimy looking men occupying the Hydra base. From the older man's stance, you could tell he was someone of great importance. Karpov seemed slightly nervous as he awaited the American's answer.

"How could she be ready? She only just turned six." The man said and Karpov gulped at the man's sharp tone.

"Well, she's far more advanced than what we originally thought. She's already passed all of our evaluations and she's now proficient in several languages." Karpov paused as he decided to add in something else. "She soaked up every lesson the asset taught her and I think it would prove to be beneficial to us if we started the program right now."

The American man sighed as he stopped walking and turned to look at Karpov.

"And why's that?"

"Well, the sooner we can train her, the sooner we can send her out in the field. Right now she's too fragile to do any real sparing with the Winter Soldier even with what's left of Erskine's formula in her." Karpov informed the stately looking man. "If we can inject her with Stark's leftover serum then she could train with the Winter Soldier right away."

The American man stood back and thought long and hard about what the Russian colonel just told him. It was true. Emma was stronger, faster, and smarter than the average six year old…Hell, she was almost as strong as a full sized man with her grandfather's leftover super soldier serum that managed to be passed down to her.

However, it still wasn't enough for them.

The original plan was to obtain Emma Rogers and then prepare her for her destiny with Hydra. She was too young to understand how powerful of a weapon she was going to be for them. They had the Winter Soldier but if they had Emma then Hydra would be unbeatable. It was all they could hope for since the previous Winter Soldier program failed. It didn't look like they would be able to use those other super soldiers anytime soon so the Viper Assassin program was the only hope they had left.

Emma specifically was the only hope they had left.

The older American man looked back at a hopeful Karpov, his decision already made.

"Wait another year and by then she'll be ready for us. Send me all recordings of her training sessions in the meantime; I want to keep an eye on her progress." Karpov nodded furiously as he agreed to the man's request.

"Yes, of course, Mr. Pierce. Thank you." Alexander Piece clapped a hand against Karpov's shoulder, giving him a friendly smile.

"Don't mention it, Karpov. Good job by the way. Hydra appreciates your hard work." Karpov smiled in return, humbled by the fact that one of the head operatives of Hydra was congratulating him. There was nothing better he could ask for. Pierce gave him one last look before walking away from the excited colonel.

This would prove to be an eventful year for Hydra.

 

* * *

 

 "Colonel Karpov, Sir?" Emma asked and the colonel in question gave her a glare.

They were in "The Cold Room" again which was where Emma was permitted to focus on her studies. She knew that the colonel hated when she spoke English but he had been more laid back on the language ever since she had proven to be fluent in various other languages. Emma was currently reading a book about Sudan's economics, required reading apparently, when the question popped into her head. It wasn't the first time she had thought of the question but it was definitely the first time she had gathered enough courage to ask it.

"What?!" He hissed and Emma tried to bury any fear of another beating before she answered.

"Where is Winter?" This threw Karpov off as he stared back at the nervous looking six year old.

"What the hell are you going on about, girl?" He demanded and Emma forced herself not to feel frightened.

"I was just wondering where the Winter Soldier is, sir? He's supposed to be my trainer but I haven't seen him in months." She replied in a quiet voice.

Karpov noticed the way she talked now differed from when she first came to the Hydra base two years ago. The girl had talked too much like an infant for his liking then but now she talked like an adult. That was the way it was supposed to be, after all. The girl learned fast but not fast enough, apparently, since she had the audacity to demand answers from him like he was her servant.

"How dare you ask such things, you silly little girl!"

He raised his hand up to strike her but for the first time Emma didn't flinch. She stared back at him like she expected him to do it. The action slightly unnerved the colonel and he was reminded a little too much of the Winter Soldier. But that's what Pierce wanted, wasn't it? He wanted another Winter Soldier…a new and improved Winter Soldier to be precise.

"Well, you seem to finally be learning." Karpov commented but Emma didn't falter. She seemed to be determined to get an answer and Karpov admired her for that.It was about time she stopped acting like a child because Hydra was no place for children.

"Not that it's any of your business, anyways, but the Winter Soldier has been briefly compromised so he's currently being reevaluated until he's fit for duty." Karpov told her.

Emma knew that it was a lie and it was all thanks to the Winter Soldier himself. One of the tactics he had shown her was showing her how to detect lies. It seemed to come in handy at the moment. Even though Emma knew that it was a lie, she didn't dare call Karpov out on it. She knew enough to know that she could get away with questioning the colonel once but certainly not twice.

"Your training will be continued with Agent Rumlow until further notice." Karpov told her.

Emma stared at him in surprise because the name sounded eerily familiar to her ears. Rumlow? She knew that name but she just couldn't remember where from. It didn't matter who the man was to Emma. Training wouldn't be the same as it was with the Winter Soldier. She had a strong feeling that this Rumlow guy might not be as patient with her as the Winter Soldier.

 

* * *

 

 Unfortunately, Emma had turned out to be right about the mysterious man known as Rumlow.

She realized who he was the second Karpov walked her inside the training room and she desperately wanted to run back out. Rumlow turned out to be the man with the wolf like smile…the same man who murdered her parents and stole her from her home. She had seen him around the base when she first arrived but then he was gone which she had been grateful for. Nothing had changed much about him. He still had the same dark eyes and sinister grin but now the large cut that had been on his face had scarred, making him look even scarier than she had remembered.

"Long time no see, kid." Rumlow said, smiling at her in the same way he always smiled at her in her nightmares. Emma struggled not to show any signs of fear as Karpov walked her up to Rumlow.

"Agent Rumlow, it's nice to see you. We're most appreciative of your time here at the base since we all know you're one of Pierce's most decorated agents." Karpov complimented but his tone sounded cold…like he had said the compliment many other times.

"Don't mention it, Colonel, I had to make time so I could see my favorite girl." It was clear that the comment was directed more to her than it was to Karpov. The way he said it chilled Emma right to the bone. She wished more than anything right now that she was anywhere else other than the training room with Rumlow. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Are you not going to answer, you stupid girl?!" Karpov demanded when Emma didn't say anything. "This is your superior and he demands your respect!"

"Yes, of course, sir." Emma replied as she looked from Karpov back to Rumlow. Rumlow didn't look offended in the least but instead looked amused.

"Calm down, Colonel, the kid didn't mean anything by it. Besides…there will be plenty of time to learn respect while we train." Rumlow told the Russian, giving Emma a wink. The action did nothing to comfort her and she instead dreaded the training lessons she would have with him. She already knew that any training lesson with him wouldn't be as gentle as the ones with the Winter Soldier.

"Of course, Agent." Karpov replied and Rumlow glanced back at Emma, not even paying attention to Karpov. His dark eyes were locked onto Emma's figure as Karpov continued to speak. Emma felt a flood of fear surge through her as she tried to keep eye contact with Rumlow, refusing to get another beating from Karpov just because she showed weakness.

The way his dark eyes glinted as he looked her over gave Emma a sick feeling and she could also feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. There was something about the way he stared at her that gave the young girl a very bad feeling. The words "Stranger Danger", her parents tried teaching her, echoed through her head over and over again.

  
There was something about this man that was wrong. Something that made him seem like the real life bogeyman to Emma and it went beyond what she saw him do to her parents. Emma knew then, from her gut instinct, that this man was far more dangerous than the Winter Soldier and Colonel Karpov combined. It was a different kind of danger. A more sinister kind that made Emma freeze in her steps.

"You're a lot like your mother, you know that?" Rumlow told her, cutting off Karpov and interrupting the young girl's thoughts.

Karpov looked like he wanted to yell at Rumlow for the interruption but the Russian was also curious about what Rumlow had to say. He speculated that it could be a move that would benefit the small girl, not for her own sake, but for their own perhaps. Emma's eyes widened in surprise as the man mentioned her mother. Karpov sometimes mentioned her mother but he never went into detail about her. She was desperate for information about her parents even if that information came from the man who killed them.

"You knew my parents?" She asked in a small voice and Rumlow smirked.

"I knew of your dad but your mother I definitely knew. We practically grew up together…your mom and I." Rumlow told her and Emma hastily soaked up the information he gave her.

"Really?" Rumlow nodded.

"Yes, she was a curious little thing and was always getting herself into trouble." Emma just stared at him as he told her more about her mother. She wanted to know things about her mother that made her mother more of a person in her mind than a distant fading memory.

Emma wanted to know her mother's favorite color.

She wanted to know what her mother liked to eat and what she thought was terribly gross to eat.

Maybe her mother's favorite animal was a dog or maybe it was a lion.

These were all things that Emma didn't know but would desperately love to find out about her mother.

"Were you friends with her?" She asked innocently and Rumlow stared at her like a predator might stare at it's prey.

Emma looked awfully like Margot in that moment even though the small girl shared more looks with her father than she did with her mother. Margot always had that look of innocence going on about her. Something that always allowed her to gain the upper hand in fights and Rumlow could tell that it would also be Emma's greatest strength. Although, Emma had the Rogers' famous blonde hair and blue eyes, everything else was her mother. It made Rumlow all too painfully aware that she might look a lot like Margot once she was all grown up.

The same stunning pixie looks that would break a million hearts.

"Yes, I was." Rumlow replied in a flat tone.

Emma desperately wanted to punch him or kick him in retaliation.

Then why did you kill her?! She wanted to scream at him.

If she was his friend then why did he have to kill her?

Doesn't everyone have a choice?

That's what her father used to tell her whenever she got into trouble.

Rumlow didn't look the least bit remorseful over the murder of her parents and that filled the small girl up with more rage than she had ever felt before.

"You hate me." Rumlow said but it wasn't a question…it was a statement. "That's good. Use that anger and rage. You're going to need all the help you can get."

His statement angered Emma even more because it sounded so patronizing to her ears. All the adults talked to her like that, except for the Winter Soldier of course, but hadn't she earned the right to be spoken to like an adult? They were always forcing her to think and act like a grown-up yet they still treated her like the child she was. Emma glared at him, her mind filled up with so much hate and anger that it nearly blinded her.

Emma made a promise that day. She made a promise to herself that one day, when the time was right, she would murder the man with the wolf like smile just like he murdered her parents. Emma would listen to everything he had to teach her and she would use it against him when she was strong enough.

For now, however, she would just have to wait.


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hydra has frightening plans for Emma as she's forced to face their worst human experimentation yet. She comes across a man named Pierce as she tries to find out what her purpose in Hydra is supposed to be.

Hydra Base  
Location: Siberia  
2008

"Она уже готовилась к инъекции. Бак готов к работе?" (She's already been prepped for the injection. Is the tank all ready to go?)

Emma opened her eyes, trying to make sense of her vision but everything was blurry. Her eye lids felt heavier than normal as she fought to keep her eyes open but she just felt so drowsy. The voices she heard sounded distant so she could barely make out a word they said.

"Да, сэр. Все системы готовы к инъекциям. Мы просто ждем мистера пирса." (Yes, sir. All systems are ready for the injection. We're just waiting for Mr. Pierce.)

Emma felt sickly as she laid there on what felt like a bed. She thought she may have been dreaming at first because the bed felt like it was moving. She strained her eyes to make something out between the blurriness but all she could see were deformed shapes and lights that were only a little too bright. Emma coughed before she tried getting up from the bed only to find out that she couldn't.

The seven year old then tried getting up again but to no avail. She attempted to lift her arms up but she found that they were stuck. Her arms were pinned above her head and the small girl struggled with all her might to break free from whatever was holding her down but she just couldn't move.

"Поторопись. Девушка становится слишком тревожным." (Hurry up. The girl is getting too anxious.) Emma felt a tear stream down from her face in frustration as she began to squirm around in the moving bed. It was then that her sight began becoming clear again and she was able to make out the deformed shapes she had seen before.

Some of the Russians she could recognize, having seen them around the base. She saw Karpov as he talked with the German man known as Strucker. At least, that's what Emma knew him as but she had only seen him briefly in the labs whenever they were injecting her with the needles. She hadn't understood German at the time but now she did. He, however, wasn't speaking German but instead Russian which made Emma wonder if the base was located somewhere in Russia since the majority of the people in the base spoke Russian.

No one would ever tell her where the base was situated.

Emma was always on a need to know basis.

Emma met Strucker's eyes as he looked down at her and she realized that she liked him even less than she liked Karpov. Karpov was a military man with anger issues but he wasn't sadistic like Rumlow or Strucker. She heard rumors around base that Strucker had a sick fascination with experiments of the unnatural kind. Emma had a feeling that Strucker wasn't beyond experimenting even with the likes of someone as young as her. At least Karpov, even with all his beatings, never used violence beyond what he thought was necessary.

"Mach dir keine Sorgen, Kleine, alles wird klappen. Du hast keine Ahnung, was du für unsere Sache machst, aber du wirst perfekt sein."(Don't worry, little one, everything will work out. You have no idea what you're about to do for our cause but you'll be perfect.) Strucker told her in German as he stared at her in what could only be described as an expression of pure awe.

"Das perfekte Exemplar. Besser als der Winter-Soldat und Captain America zusammen." (The perfect specimen. Better than the Winter Soldier and Captain America put together.) He remarked with a soft tone.

Emma stopped struggling, becoming very still as she stared up at the face of Strucker in confusion. What did that mean? Before she could think anymore on the subject she was released from her restraints. She immediately sat up in the bed and felt a little light headed as she did so. It seemed like she may have gotten up a little too fast.

"Где я? Что это?" (Where am I? What is this?) Emma said in Russian, completely expecting to receive a slap across the face for her directness but she was taken by surprise when Strucker just grinned at her and Karpov didn't make a move.

The room was an altogether different room than what she had been in before. Emma didn't recognize it with its openness and darkness but she realized that it was even colder than "The Cold Room"...if that was possible.

The room was so cold that she could see her own breath.

Scientific equipment and machinery filled up the large, spacious room and there was more people there than she could ever remember meeting. Small looking men with white lab coats and glasses, thinning hair that they tried to comb over their bald spot. She saw some of the men, and women too, standing near the entry point of the room dressed in black combat gear and large guns in their hands.

Guards.

Rumlow was standing in the back, right next to an older looking man. It was the older man that grabbed Emma's attention right away. He was much shorter than Rumlow but something about him practically breathed authority. The man's skin was weathered, possibly from much time spent under the sun. His hair was a much darker blonde than her own that was obviously dyed due to the obvious gray roots. His were eyes a dark blue that were also much darker than her own eye color. His eyes chilled her to the bone because they seemed be locked onto her in that very moment. He looked at her as if he knew her which struck Emma as odd. He was incredibly familiar to her for some reason but she didn't think she ever remembered meeting him.

She would've remembered him if she had.

Emma tore her gaze away from the old man and sought out one person in particular. She scanned the room quickly and quietly as she tried to pick him out from the other imposing figures. There was no way she could have missed him with those cold looking blue eyes and his shaggy looking brown hair. She felt disappointment surge through her as she failed to find the Winter Soldier in the midst of all the others.

Emma had trained with him for only six months but he had become more than a mentor to her. No, he was the only one she could call a friend in this dark and cold place. It had been a year since she had last seen him and she missed him so much. Rumlow was never careful with her or precise like the Winter Soldier was and his advice was never rational either. Rumlow sparred with her for real and she ended up aching and sore every time.

The Winter Soldier never talked much but she appreciated his silence unlike Rumlow who talked too much for her liking. Rumlow was also a little too easy to read and most of the time Emma didn't like what she saw in his eyes.

There was something very sinister that rested in those dark eyes of his.

"Mr. Pierce, it's time!" A Russian scientist called out to the older man who had been watching Emma earlier.

Pierce?

No, Emma couldn't have possibly known that man. She had never heard the name Pierce in her short life. The man named Mr. Pierce gave a sharp nod to Rumlow, causing the man to smirk. Whenever Rumlow smirked it almost always gave Emma an uneasy feeling since nothing good ever came out of Rumlow smirking. Rumlow stalked towards Emma with a delighted gleam in his eyes before he picked her up and started carrying her in his arms much to Emma's surprise.

"Come on, princess, you're just going to have a little medical operation. Nothing to worry about." He said in a smug tone and Emma wanted to wipe the conceited smirk off his face. Her father used to call her princess. What gave this man, her parents killer, the right to call her by the same exact name? Before Emma even had time to voice her thoughts, her attention was captured by an odd looking contraption.

It looked to be some kind of water tank, not too different from the dunking tanks she used to see at the county fair her parents used to take her to when they were still alive.

It stood at the height of a grown man but almost twice as high as Emma's height. The tank was completely glass and round, much like a giant glass cylinder, and had small plastic tubes sticking outside the tank and hooked up to another contraption. The contraption was mechanical looking with smaller glass cylinders sitting on top of it, pumping what looked to be like some sort of blue substance. Numbers were flashing on the screen connected to the mechanical contraption but Emma didn't understand what any of it meant.

There was a set of metal stairs next to the glass tank that led up to a platform at the top of the tank.

A man stood at the top, he looked to be one of the scientists who were now all crowded around a computer looking at numbers. Rumlow set her back down on the ground at the bottom of the small, make shift staircase. His smirk was now gone and was replaced with a serious looking expression. Rumlow was always so smug and sinister looking around her that his serious expression almost frightened her.

"Go up the stairs." He told her in a firm tone. Emma gave him a confused look as she looked between him and the glass tank.

What was going on?

"Why?" He glared at her, wrapping his hand around her wrist before squeezing.

"Because I said so. Now go up the damn stairs and do as you're told." He said and Emma knew that this would be a fight she wouldn't win. His tone told her that he wasn't fooling around this time so Emma decided to comply. She had developed enough self-preservation skills to know that it would be better for her and everyone else if she just listened and did as she was told.

So with that Emma began to walk up the stairs to the creepy looking scientist. He didn't smile at her in that sinister way Rumlow or Strucker did but he just looked at her in an almost calculating way. That seemed to make her more nervous than anything else.

"полоса" (Strip.) The scientist told her in Russian but Emma was afraid she may have heard him wrong.

Strip? What did that even mean?

"Excuse me?" She replied in English but the scientist only glared at her in annoyance. He gestured to her body before answering.

"Газа! Сними одежду! Все это! Сейчас!" (Strip! Take off your clothes! All of it! Now!) He said in a frustrated tone and Emma nodded, quickly doing what she was told and taking off her clothes.

As a seven year old she wasn't quite embarrassed to take off her clothes in front of adults. She may have talked and acted like an adult but she was still childlike in mind. Her mind was too innocent to not fear taking off her clothes in a room full of men. When Emma grew up she'd be old and wise enough to be afraid.

It wasn't long before she was completely nude and Emma tried to cover herself, not out of shame but because the room was so cold.

The man then began to analyze her as he looked her up and down with that same cold look as before. He lifted up her arms, paying close attention to every detail, before pushing her blonde hair to the side and staring at her neck. The scientist seemed satisfied with whatever he was searching for so he dropped her arm and her arm fell to her side.

It made her uncomfortable the way he had scrutinized her but she knew better than to speak aloud about her discomforts. He turned to look at the others who were watching from down below.

"Все выглядит хорошо, полковник Карпов, думаю, она готова к уколам. Всякий раз, когда вы готовы, сэр." (Everything looks good, Colonel Karpov, I think she's ready for the injections. Whenever you're ready, sir.) The scientist said to Karpov who only nodded as he glanced back at Pierce. Karpov then looked back up at the platform, looking between the scientist and Emma.

"Вставь ее." (Put her in.) Karpov said and the scientist nodded.

Emma looked between Karpov and the scientist, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

She didn't understand.

What was happening?

Before Emma could think any further about the situation, the scientist shoved her hard and she lost her balance, falling into the glass tank. She moaned in pain, the floor of the glass tank was padded but it was still a high fall. Her expression of pain quickly morphed into one of anger as she glared back up at the scientist who had pushed her. She quickly stood up from the floor of the tube.

"What was that for?!" She yelled, glaring at the man in question.

She sounded much like a normal seven year old who might have said the same thing to a boy that was tugging on her pigtails. This, however, was a much more serious situation than the small girl could ever imagine. Her complaints went ignored as the scientist climbed back down the stairs and joined the other scientists who were all huddled around the computers and the odd mechanical contraption she had seen from before.

"С этими расчетами мы договорились?"

"Можете ли вы дать мне показатель выживаемости, и я сравню его с другими предметами?"

"Какой процент формулы Эркскина в настоящее время в ее системе?"

"Когда мы добавляем сыворотку, какие побочные эффекты мы можем ожидать?"

These were all the questions she could hear the scientists rapidly firing off at each other as they fumbled around the lab in the midst of all the computers. They weren't even paying her the slightest attention.

Emma padded her way over to the glass and pressed her hands against it. She spotted Rumlow watching her with the man named Pierce, both of their eyes focused entirely on her. Strucker was hovering over the scientists as they tried to figure something out but Emma couldn't tell what they were trying to do. Karpov stood off to the side, quietly observing the situation before him, sometimes glancing at the scientists but also sometimes looking at her.

What were they going to do to her?

What was her purpose?

Emma didn't have the slightest idea about what her purpose or worth could be to everyone. It wasn't a question that she had thought about for a long time but just the past few months.  
It was always quiet at night, right before she fell asleep, and she couldn't help but let herself think. Her thoughts soon drifted to what Hydra wanted from her. She hadn't questioned anything when she first arrived because she was practically a baby back then and she had spent her time crying for her parents. Hydra's intentions were no concern of hers back then. It wasn't until one of those quiet nights that she replayed something that the Winter Soldier had once told her during one of those rare instances where he actually talked.

"У каждого есть мотив. Гидра ничего не делает бесплатно. Если у вас есть цель, они позволяют вам жить. (Everyone has a motive. Hydra does nothing for free. If you have a purpose they let you live.)"

The Winter Soldier had whispered that to her one day when no one was listening. Karpov was too busy overlooking paperwork to pay them much attention that day and the Winter Soldier's voice had been so quiet that even Emma had barely heard it.

Maybe he was onto something, Emma thought.

At the time his advice had seemed random and senseless but now she understood it a bit better.

Why would Hydra keep her around?

They spent time teaching her and training her but it couldn't have been out of the goodness of their hearts. Rumlow murdered her parents but he didn't kill her.

Why?

He just took her and brought her to the Hydra base.

What did they want with a seven year old girl?

"Заполните бак." (Fill the tank.) One of the scientists said and Emma was broken out of her thoughts.

She suddenly felt a coldness around her feet and looked down only to find that water was quickly entering the glass tank. The small girl watched as the water pooled around her feet and started to move up to her ankles.

She didn't understand.

The blonde girl looked up at the scientists in confusion.

"What is this?!" She called out to them but they ignored her. Emma glared at their backs because she was beyond tired of being ignored.

"Что это?! Пожалуйста! Смотри на меня!" (What is this?! Please! Look at me!) She started calling out in Russian but it did little to gain their attention.

The water was about waist deep this time and it didn't look to be stopping anytime soon. She watched as a scientist climbed up the stairs in what looked to be a diving suit before climbing down the ladder of the glass tank.

There was a ladder?

Then why did that man throw her in?

Emma didn't feel relieved that this scientist was climbing in the tank with her because she honestly doubted that they intended to help her.

The diver had a plastic contraption in his hands.

It looked to be some sort of mask connected to the plastic tubes that went through the glass tank. The diver, without missing a beat, grabbed Emma by the back of her head and put the nozzle over her mouth. The plastic tubes, that were attached to her mask and the glass tank, were then subsequently shoved up her nose with no mercy. She yelped in pain and felt the water coming up to her shoulders. Emma could feel the air from her nose go down through the plastic tubes, entering the nozzle, before traveling through the other larger plastic tubing that went through the glass tank.

The diver, with their job completed, went back to the ladder before climbing back out.

Emma tried to remove the nozzle or do something but it was really stuck.

She heard a distant beeping noise and watched as couple of the plastic tubes, not connected to her nozzle, started moving on their own further into the tank. Emma looked at the tubes in horror as they seemed determined to make their way towards her. She tried to swim away from the tubes but the glass stopped her.

Emma could only watch as one of the tubes stopped once it reached one of her arms, it seemed to hover there for a moment, before it suctioned its way onto her arm. The water was now past her nose and in less than thirty seconds she would be completely submerged in water.

Emma let out a loud scream from beneath her nozzle as the tube punctured her skin and began to dig its way into her body. She lurched forward as she tried to grab onto something to pull herself free but it was useless.

Emma was about to reach over and pull out the tube but her other arm was attacked by another plastic tube. She soon felt the same sensation happen to that arm as well.

It wasn't long before the other plastic tubes found their way to other parts of her body.

Her left leg.

Her right leg.

The left side of her abdomen.

The right side of her abdomen.

The left side of her neck.

The right side of her neck.

Her left hip.

Her right hip.

The tubes were suddenly everywhere and caused the seven year old to scream out in agony but no sound could be heard from under the water, the bubbles could only be seen as evidence of her pain.

Emma watched the plastic tubes as she was completely submerged underwater. She could hear the top of the glass tank closing as the water neared the top of it but she was too occupied with the tubes to pay any attention.

The tubes were empty, the cuts that the tubes made were so clean that no blood escaped from her body. Emma didn't dare move or struggle because the more she moved, the tighter the tubes grabbed ahold of her.

They were a lot like snakes in that way, constricting just like she had read about in the books that Hydra made her read. They wrapped around their prey, tightening their hold more and more until the prey's bones started shattering and they suffocated. It was then that the snake would eat them, entirely consume them without even taking a bite. It was surely a painful way to die and Emma could relate to the prey in that moment.

She watched everyone going about their business outside the tank although she couldn't make out their faces very well with the water in the way. Emma could hear their voices but they sounded distorted from underwater.

A flash of color captured her attention as she glanced to her right, spotting the plastic tubing that was latched onto the right side of her body and ran through the outside of the glass tank. It was the same tubing that was connected to the mechanical contraption she had seen earlier that was pumping the mysterious blue substance.

Her eyes widened as she spotted the blue substance begin to enter the plastic tubing and it seemingly made its way towards her. Emma felt her heartrate climb as she started to panic, the blue substance entering the glass case from inside the tubing. She could see the vivid blue coming closer and closer, causing her to try and move away but the tubing only constricted around her more.

There was no escape.

When the blue substance first entered Emma's blood stream she felt nothing.

However, the feeling of numbness didn't last long.

It was only about five seconds later that she started feeling a burning sensation.

The burning sensation only increased as time went on and more of the blue substance was pumped into her body. She tried screaming but it was muffled from underwater. Emma no longer cared about the tubes constricting as she continued to struggle to break free but there was no point. Emma had never felt such pain in her life and she had experienced a lot of pain so far.

Watching her parents die had been painful and then all the training sessions with Rumlow had also caused her pain…not to mention Karpov's beatings but none of it could even compare to the pain she felt in that moment. It felt as if her entire body was on fire as the blue substance entered every part of her body. It even entered through the tubing that went up her nose.

The substance was everywhere.

It wasn't long before Emma had passed out from the pain and everyone on the outside of the glass tank could only watch in fascination as their little project was in progress. It made them wonder whether or not they would be successful with this subject unlike their work with the previous subjects.

Only time would tell.

"Good job, Dr. List, I have a good feeling about this one." Strucker told the scientist. It was the very same scientist that had analyzed Emma before throwing her into the tank. The scientist seemed a little less confident than Strucker was. They had never used the serum on a subject that was as young as the Project before.

"Don't get your hopes up, Strucker. She may not even survive the injection." Dr. List told him honestly but Strucker only smiled. He watched the blonde girl submerged in the tank. She had long since passed out from the pain but the serum was now within her body. There was no going back for her now. When she awoke, she would be a new and improved human being. Far more advanced than even Captain America.

The girl would be the next step in Hydra's progress in creating the perfect super soldier. Or rather...super assassin. The Winter Soldier wouldn't even stand a chance against the young girl when she became of age. The blonde would be stronger, faster, and better in every way. She would be the perfect specimen but she would also belong to Hydra. The girl would be Hydra's property forever.

"I don't think so, Doctor. She's special." He smirked as he thought about the future that the girl was going to set up for Hydra. "You're looking at Hydra's most powerful weapon."

* * *

 

When a certain genius billionaire playboy philanthropist was kidnapped and kept imprisoned in a cave in Afghanistan, Emma was already on her third anniversary of her kidnapping while being kept in a cold and dark Hydra base in Siberia. Although...he wouldn't know about that. Like everyone else, the famous billionaire thought that she, like her parents, were dead. Hydra made it look like a tragic house fire but that was far from the truth.

The billionaire would sit in the cave at night and remember a small girl with blonde pigtails and an adorable smile. A cute little toddler who used to smile at him and cheer him up in a way no one else could. She was the daughter of someone who was a friend, father, and brother to him. A combination of every male figure that he severely lacked in childhood.

The man in the cave remembered going to that small farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and spending time with that family that seemed to welcome him into their cute little quiet life in the country even if he didn't always deserve it.

Most of all...the man in the cave remembered having somewhere to go for the holidays.

As he thought about the cute blonde girl, the girl he forced himself not to think about for the past three years with the help of a lot of scotch and beautiful women whose names he always forgot in the morning, he realized how good it felt to have someone in his life that was happy to see him. The feeling then faded as he remembered that he'd never have something like that again.

Emma used to remember the man with the odd facial hair and expensive clothes.

She thought of him often during those first few days at the base after her kidnapping. The blonde hadn't understood death at the time but she understood that her parents were gone and weren't coming back. However, she also held hope that maybe her Uncle Tony would find her and rescue her from the very cold and dark dungeon as if she were a princess locked in a tower and he was her knight in shining armor.

That was just the thing though.

He never came and she soon lost hope.

Her uncle never saved her nor did anyone else for that matter. It was almost like Emma was a forgotten footnote in history. Like she never existed at all. People went about their lives after the supposed death of the Rogers family. The people who were the closest to the family would always carry pain with them wherever they went but they still moved on.

The world went on too for that matter.

It didn't take long for Emma to forget her uncle either. His face, much like her parents' faces, became an empty space in her mind. She soon forgot his name as well. Emma could still remember the idea of him but she no longer remembered him as a person. Her young age and not to mention Hydra's very subtle and discreet brainwashing seemed to erase more and more from her former life in Oklahoma. Soon Emma would no longer have any attachments to her previous life and she would be committed to her purpose in Hydra one hundred perfect.

That's what Hydra hoped for, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Russian Translations:
> 
> С этими расчетами мы договорились: Are these the calculations we agreed upon?
> 
> Можете ли вы дать мне показатель выживаемости, и я сравню его с другими предметами: Can you give me the survival rate and I'll compare it to the other subjects?
> 
> Какой процент формулы Эркскина в настоящее время в ее системе: What is the percentage of Erskine's formula currently in her system?
> 
> Когда мы добавляем сыворотку, какие побочные эффекты мы можем ожидать: When we add the serum what side effects can we expect?


End file.
